Childhood contact predicts hemispheric asymmetry in cross-race face processing

Participants typically process same-race faces more quickly and more accurately than cross-race faces. This deficit is amplified in the right hemisphere of the brain, presumably due to its involvement in configural processing. The present research tested the idea that cross-race contact tunes cognitive and perceptual systems, influencing this asymmetric race-based deficit in face processing. Participants with high and low levels of contact performed a lateralized recognition task with same- and cross-race faces. Replicating prior work, participants with minimal contact showed cross-race deficits in processing that were larger in the right hemisphere. For participants with more contact, this lateralized deficit disappeared. This effect of contact seems to be independent of race-based attitudes (e.g., prejudice).